1. Field
The present disclosure relates to remote telepresence using a live avatar, and more particularly to specific features such as gaze direction and initiating a connection to an available avatar.
2. Description of Related Art
Certain people are unable, unwilling, or not desirous of travel to a remote location. Online computer systems provide virtual world experiences that can mimic real travel in a computer environment, including interacting with other persons in remote locales as if one were physically present. However, virtual world interactions are only effective for participants in the relevant virtual world system, and do not permit virtual interactions with persons who are active only in the physical world and do not participate in virtual world activities.
For example, politicians such as Gary Locke or Barack Obama well have been interested in attending the Consumer Electronics Show, yet would have been unable to do so even if security concerns could be met, because their presence at the CES would cause the booth operators to change how they display and behave on the day of the visit, thereby robbing these government officials of the ability to see the show as it really took place. Non-celebrities may also be interested in virtually attending live events, merely to eliminate travel expenses, to enable long-distance learning, to negotiate agreements, or to transfer expert knowledge quickly to a remote location.
However, currently live avatar technology is merely rudimentary in concept and do not fully enable a more natural interaction between the live avatar and other people in the avatar's immediate surroundings, that enables the remote operator to experience the scene as if in the person of the live avatar. In addition, current technology does not support mass distribution of avatar services to enable large-scale commercialization of such services. It is therefore also desirable to provide improvements addressing these and other deficiencies in current avatar technology.